Chicago Bears defensive end Julius Peppers peaks for playoffs

Wednesday

CHICAGO — With all of his postseason experience, defensive end Julius Peppers knows how to get himself ready for the playoffs.

CHICAGO — With all of his postseason experience, defensive end Julius Peppers knows how to get himself ready for the playoffs.

But even he knows this week’s Bears-Packers NFC Championship game will be at a whole new level of intensity.

Now he’ll find out if he can get himself ready for a Bears-Packers playoff.

“It’s that time of the year; it’s playoffs. It’s all or nothing now,” he said after playing in his ninth postseason game Sunday. “You’ve got to expect all kinds of things … We’re going to be ready for anything.”

During the surge that got the Bears into the playoffs, Peppers registered six of his eight sacks in the final nine weeks of the regular season, 11th in the NFL in that span. The Bears have 23 sacks during that stretch, fifth most in the league.

He then came out in his first postseason game in a Bears uniform and had just two tackles — one for loss — during Sunday’s 35-24 win over Seattle. But he was a force throughout. He hounded Matt Hasselbeck even when double-teamed, getting credit for three quarterback pressures. And his outside presence forced the Seahawks to adjust on the fly; and in the end, nothing worked for them.

Seattle gained just 276 total yards while punting nine times and holding the ball for almost 15 minutes less than the Bears.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve been in the playoffs. Today is a great day for the franchise,” Peppers said after Sunday’s game. “It’s going to be real short-lived, though. We will put this behind us and then we’re off to the next challenge.”

And that would be where the Packers come in. Peppers spent the first eight years of his NFL career at Carolina, where the Bears-Packers rivalry was rarely spoken of. Now he’s right in the middle of it.

Peppers had three tackles and a stop for a loss in the Bears’ Week 3 win over Green Bay. He was then held to just two tackles in the 10-3 regular-season-ending loss to Green Bay three weeks ago.

But things are different this time of year, Peppers insists. And he has been a big reason why the Bears’ defense has held three out of its past four opponents to less than 300 yards of offense.

“We feel like we are just as good as anybody. We don’t care who we play, we can beat any other team that’s left in the tournament,” Peppers said. “Are we peaking at the right time? Yeah.”

The Bears were second in the league against the run (90.1 yards a game allowed) in the regular season, and they held strong Sunday as well, allowing just 34 yards on the ground to the Seahawks.